Shofar FTP Archive File: imt/nca/supp-b/nca-sb-02-frank.13

Archive/File: imt/nca/supp-b/nca-sb-02-frank.13
Last-Modified: 1997/11/29
Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression, Supplement B
Deportation of Slave Labor from Poland
Excerpts from Testimony of Hans Frank, taken at
Nurnberg, Germany, 13 September 1945, afternoon,
by Lt. Col. Thomas S. Hinkel, IGD. Also present:
Siegfired Ramler, Interpreter; Pvt. Clair Van
Vleck, Reporter.
[Page 1387]
Q. How many workers did you furnish Sauckel?
A. Sauckel had come very late, comparatively. When Sauckel
came along, he only asked for very few people. That I have
said before. These were voluntary workers and we could
fullfill [sic] that without any trouble.
Q. How about Funk? How many workers did he want?
A. Funk was generally in charge of everything that the
industry in Germany needed. Altogether we delivered a number
somewhere around 800,000.
Q. You mean to Funk, Seldte, and to Sauckel, all three
together?
A. To all different departments of the State.
Q. As I remember your statement before, it was to the effect
that 90 percent at least of this labor was voluntary; is
that
[Page 1388]
correct?
A. They were all voluntary. The few that wanted to try to
force these people we dealt with very rapidly and we avoided
this action. They wanted to start this method with us too,
but we were able to avoid it.
Q. Your statement is that there were no laborers obtained
among Polish workers, for work in Germany, who did not
volunteer for that job?
A. Yes. Out of the General Government, out of their own free
will. You can see that from the numbers involved, because
even before the war hundreds of thousands of workers went
out of Poland every year. I have talked to the Colonel about
it. We had our work offices all over the country and things
ran comparatively very easy. We even carried it through that
people should be able to come back for a furlough, to the
General Government. The mail situation was brought into
order. Our main job was to care that those Poles in Germany
should be treated decently. At first, this was very bad. At
first, these Poles were looked upon as enemies. That we
could notice right away because the number of the voluntary
workers declined. Then we saw that they obtained priests,
that the whole treatment became a more sensible one and then
the people came into contact with the different firms and
works, and the people there had their own interests to keep
them. Towards the end everything became fine. You can see
that from the many Poles who did not even want to return to
Poland. There were 400,000 that did not want to return.

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